Weight Watchers for corns...

[Cegninedorf]

Ok, my Maizie is getting a bit Rubenesque. She's developing a case of hips (as it appears to my untrained eye...), and I'd like to nip this in the bud. I'm working on exercising her, but how should I handle feeding? Give her the same size prey (1 adult) every 2 weeks instead of every week or give her a smaller sized prey every week or 2 weeks or :shrugs:

Thanks in advance. :)

Here are some photos of the hippy-chick's latter half...I took the photos right after she had downed a mouse, so she is appearing a bit more poufy than she did prior to feeding...

[susang]

I cut my two big males down to 1 big feeder every 10 days, but they still gained. I will see after brumation if they can go every two weeks. My big guy gained last spring even with hunger strike????

[Cegninedorf]

I cut my two big males down to 1 big feeder every 10 days, but they still gained. I will see after brumation if they can go every two weeks. My big guy gained last spring even with hunger strike????

Btw, Susang, I love your avatar...Medusa was one of my childhood heroes; I even went as her for Halloween when I was 8. :) My hair was transformed into 22 snake-braids. :)

I'm not going to brumate Maizie this year...I've had Maizie feeding now every 2 weeks on one adult for a couple of feedings now, and she still gained 10 g between her last feeding & today's. I may reduce her feeder-size, and see how that goes...

My big guy, Caramelo, regurged at the end of Oct, and he went from 980 g to finally taking a small adult at 935 g now a month later. Although, I don't think bulimia is the way to go for weight loss...:uhoh:

[mele2511]

I have got an adult male who was getting a bit on the tubby side. About 6 months ago i put him on a one adult mouse every 2 weeks and the weight came right off.

Give the snake a little extra handling time. While you are handling her use a tighter grip around her body and she will have to use her muscles more.

[SnakeAround]

I have my biggest male on a one mouse per 14 days diet for a couple of months now and he lost almost 100 grams. I gave a baby chicken instead of a mouse a couple of times too, they are less fat.

[Nanci]

Do male snakes get hips?

My regurger, Maizey, maintains on three 5 gram fuzzies a week. He's thin, but not frightenly skinny. I guess he weighs about 350 grams. It makes you wonder about how much they really need, and how much is us making them fatter than nature intended.

Nanci

That Medusa thing creeps me out. The expression on her face.

[mele2511]

My male didnt get hips. He did however have what looked like a beer belly

[beaniebopps]

This is exercise time for Electra!! This is not me trying to get her to lose weight as you can see she isn't at all fat. But I still think exercise is really important and this is a low stress way for you to make sure your snakes get their butts in action! I do beleive we make them fatter than nature intended alot of the time, and it only shortens their life spans anyway.

[Drizzt80]

Give her the same size prey (1 adult) every 2 weeks instead of every week or give her a smaller sized prey every week or 2 weeks or My current feeding regimen (females 1 mouse per week, males 1 mouse every 2 weeks) resulted from a male that got large (not fat, but """robust"""). He was cut back to every two weeks for meals. He didn't gain weight, but didn't lose it drastically either. Brumation and breeding season took care of slimming him down! Now, all my males get put on 2 weeks after they pass the 300 gram mark. Slows down their growth rate, and they appear to be healthy. The females of course are breeding, and that definitely keeps the weight off.

Hope this helps,
D80

[Cegninedorf]

This is exercise time for Electra!! This is not me trying to get her to lose weight as you can see she isn't at all fat. But I still think exercise is really important and this is a low stress way for you to make sure your snakes get their butts in action! I do beleive we make them fatter than nature intended alot of the time, and it only shortens their life spans anyway.

Oh, wow -- I never thought about filling the tub...what, maybe a couple of centimeters deep? And for how long do you let her swim? What temp is the water -- room temp? I let my bearded dragon run in the tub for her baths, but hmm -- I'll have to try that with Maizie...thanks! :)

[beaniebopps]

Oh, wow -- I never thought about filling the tub...what, maybe a couple of centimeters deep? And for how long do you let her swim? What temp is the water -- room temp? I let my bearded dragon run in the tub for her baths, but hmm -- I'll have to try that with Maizie...thanks! :)

Getting the temperature right is the most important thing, it should be quite cool. If you have a thermometer that will do water, aim to get it around 77 - 80F. I let them swim for about 5 minutes, and in the middle it is deep enough that they actually have to swim but only just. Hope this helps :)

[Corny Noob]

When I thought Nagini had hips, I took a picture of her while she was in her feeding tank.
Tula said she just had to poop >_> Sure enough Nagini pooped later.